What an odd sport, American football. Here was a man about to score a touchdown in the final minute of the Super Bowl, yet trying to erase a lifetime of muscle memory for lugging the ball into the end zone. Ahmad Bradshaw of the Giants was trying to halt his large, mobile body at the 1-yard line but he just couldn’t get himself down. A man could blow out two knees or maybe a spinal column doing that. That was the strategy after more than three hours of ominous commercials and hard play: the Giants wanted to kill some seconds before Tom Brady got the ball again. But Bradshaw could not put the brakes on his forward momentum, so the poor feller had to settle for a touchdown with 57 seconds left that ultimately won Super Bowl XXXXVI, 21-17, over the Patriots. Congratulations to the Giants’ owners who showed their traditional patience with Coach Tom Coughlin during a disappointing autumn, and condolences to the Kraft family. And the one dominating memory of this game -- in a sport that preaches going all out -- is likely to be a running back trying to plop his body down short of the goal line. Very strange.

Pleased to hear you thought it was strange. I needed it explained to me, by the better half who stayed up late to watch, until driven away by Madonna. Tactics! But perhaps odd tactics: go out and do something alien to your expensive training and natural talent; don't come back until you've stuffed it up.

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George Vecsey

2/6/2012 12:46:57 am

Jen, you are either up late or up early. I remember watching the 2003 SB on the tube in London - pubs were open late, and casual fans really knew their stuff. I bet some of those blokes got what Bradshaw was doing. Took me a few seconds.
Best to you both, G&M

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Hansen Alexander

2/6/2012 02:23:01 am

George, An ironic and apt observation. Yet I was delighted that Bradshaw's gravity prevented the cautious Coughlin from attempting a field goal that far in, or fumbling away the game on the next play. This don't give the ball back to Johnny Unitas/Joe Montana/Tom Brady strategy is overdone. When you're running well and your offensive line is dominating, as were the Giants' big boys on the last drive, I hate to see the offense screw around and kill the clock and kick a field goal with 1 second left--if you can pull it off. It's a two part test; 1) Score enough to prevent a field goal from winning the game; and 2) Then worry about the magical talents of human quarterbacks. So I disagree with Cris Collingsworth's comment that "it was a huge mistake" for Bradshaw to have scored. It wasn't. It was the winning margin. Collingsworth's performance, by the way, reminds me of the biggest beef I had all year with color analysts. They have become so intent on proving how smart they are by recognizing various schemes that they do not get good looks at the actual plays, which given all those monitors and cameras should be easier than it used to me. Indeed with the vast number of close plays now reviewed at both the college and pro level the eyes of the broadcasters should be sharply attuned to things such as whether a college receiver has one foot in bounds or whether an NFL receiver has two feet in bounds. Finally, for us old timers, I'm pleased to note the following statistics: NFL Championships--Eli Manning 2, Charley Conerly 1. Hail to the Ole Miss Rebels who have quarterbacked the G-Men.

But not finally, I'm a liar after all, I want to compliment your divine irony again, all 244 pounds or whatever Bradshaw weighs.

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George Vecsey

2/6/2012 02:51:36 am

Hadn't thought of the Ole Miss connection. I noticed one of his teammates, Andrews?, identified himself as being from Ole Miss but Eli said Univ. of Miss. Is there some important subtlety?
Thanks for the nice words.
GV

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Hansen Alexander

2/6/2012 06:13:04 am

I don't know if there is a subtle distinction among players or alumni of Mississippi calling the school Ole Miss or the University of Miss; distinctions made, however, by players announcing their school for the cameras is a different issue. They outdue each other by trying to be folksy, "Ole Miss," or correct, "University of Mississippi" to be exact. Eli Manning strikes me as a "correct," if laid back, type of guy. But good heavens, in 40 years of hearing the name Archie Manning, I never heard anything other than he played for Ole Miss. When you have a best selling ballad, "The Legend of Archie Who," 1968, named after you, how could it be other wise?

This was indeed an odd play, but one which my friend Brian Youngerman has been recommending in his private emails to me and discussing in his weekly sports commentary email blasts which he's been doing for more than a dozen years.

After having seen enough of these last minute comebacks, Brian recommended the strategy of running back and forth parallel to the goal line or even taking a small loss, particular if you're in the red zone and you only need a field goal to win. He even recomends taking delay-of-game penalties to squeeze off every possible second.

We saw it a year or two ago when an Eagles player stopped short of the goal line to eat up some time before scoring.

The other interesting aspect of that play which you didn't mention is something Brian and I have discussed on more than one occasion: the strategy that Belichick employed telling his defense NOT to mount a ferocious, time-consuming goal-line stand but to let the Giants score quickly so Tom Brady would have enough time to mount a comeback.

One thing which has always puzzled me, and perhaps you can explain this, Mr. Vecsey: Why is it that a team's defense can be reasonably stout for nearly the entire game but in the last few minutes seem as porous as a sieve? It seems the "pree-vent" defense only prevents the defending team from winning.

kenn

[By the way, I enjoyed your Musial book. I was born in 1955, so did not see Musial at the tail end of his career, although I knew how great he was. I've recommended it to a sports journalist in college who writes for his local newspaper, his college paper, and on several different blogs for SBNation and others as an example of how to thoroughly research a subject and then present it using accounts from different eyewitnesses to weave an engaging tapestry of a story.]

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George Vecsey

2/10/2012 12:25:58 am

Kenn: Sorry, missed this., My question about the tactic is: what if the snap is botched on the"automatic" field goal attempt? Or what if the Brady-level QB throws an interception right away?
I agree with you about prevent, but all sports involve giving up something -- I learned that from Martina Navratilova who said she and Chris Evert both knew the odds for the other's excellence. Martina would give Chrs this line or that corner on certain points. "If she makes it, good for her," Martina said. GV